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Report an Ethical Concern Regarding ASI Members

Please carefully read about this process first and give yourself ample time to complete the form. We know it's not always easy to speak up; we appreciate your courage. If you file a report, we thank you in advance for your willingness to be open and honest during the process. Please be assured that ASI treats all communications in strict confidence. 


If you feel unsafe in any way, please seek safety and support immediately. If necessary, contact the appropriate authorities. ​

Why This Process Exists

One of ASI’s primary missions is to assist spiritual leaders and organizations in being accountable for the influence they have on their students/clients. ASI members agree to a Code of Ethics based on the simple but powerful principle: “do no harm.” ASI created this reporting opportunity for individuals who feel they have experienced harm due to an ethical breach by their spiritual leader (teacher, coach, pastor, etc.) or a spiritual organization, even if the harm was unintentional. ASI aims to create a space of integrity and safety for you to have your concerns heard.

 

What We Mean By "Harm"

Harm can happen when our universal needs are not met. For example, not being treated with respect and dignity, not being heard, treated fairly or with honesty. Harm can also happen if boundaries have been breached. 

 

If you choose to submit a report, the process encourages you to reflect on how you felt when your needs were not met by an ASI member and also to identify which tenet(s) of the Code of Ethics you feel have been breached. ASI uses the Code of Ethics as a benchmark to determine whether harm was caused. We ask: was the harm caused because the ASI member did not keep their commitment to the Code of Ethics?

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Some Things to Consider Before Filing the Form

  1. Before starting the reporting process, please check the Spiritual Leader Directory or the ASI Organization Directory to verify whether or not your teacher or organization is an ASI member. ASI is not able to address concerns about non-members.  We use the term spiritual leader to encapsulate several related professions such as ordained clergy, spiritual coaches, influencers, guides and spiritual teachers.
     

  2. When joining ASI, spiritual leaders agree to encourage feedback from their constituents. Please find out if the spiritual leader or organization has a formal feedback procedure in place, and, if you can, raise the issue through their established channels. We appreciate that approaching the spiritual leader or organization directly is not always possible, which is why ASI offers the opportunity to file a report.
     

  3. ASI has both individual and organization members, and there are ethical codes for each: an Honor Code of Ethics for Spiritual Leaders and an Honor Code of Ethics for Organizations. Spiritual organizations have some additional ethical responsibilities (for example, if they manage a retreat space, venue or online platform hosting guest teachers/leaders). We review ethical concern reports in the context of the codes of ethics, so we ask that you read the applicable code and identify the tenet(s) you feel were breached in your experience(s). In filling out your ethical concern report, you will need to refer to the ethical code. The form below will help you connect your experience(s) to the code.
     

  4. You are welcome to speak to trusted supporters during the process (friends, therapists, etc.). We ask that you refrain from going public with the complaint, if that is your intention, until the ASI process is complete.
     

  5. What this process is not:
     

  • This process is not therapy or counseling. We encourage you to find a therapist or counselor to support you regarding your experience.
     

  • This is not a legal proceeding and offers no legal advice. No attorneys may participate in their professional capacity in the ASI process.
     

  • This process does not guarantee any outcomes. ASI primarily seeks to encourage accountability and responsibility.
     

  • This process is not meant to judge or make one party right or wrong. ASI will maintain neutrality and guide and facilitate professional mediation when appropriate.
     

  • ASI is not a regulatory body and focuses on guidance to support better practices. Our membership has agreed to be accountable and accept feedback. In rare, serious cases where ethics violations have clearly been established with evidence and remain unresolved, membership may be revoked as a last resort, used only when corrective action is not possible. Our aim is always to act with fairness, transparency, and integrity to all parties, which are the values at the heart of ASI.


If you are filing a report about an ASI member organization please continue by clicking this link. Please stay on this page if your experience concerns a spiritual leader  member (individual).

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Ethical Concern Form

Please complete this form honestly and with as much relevant information as you can. If you want to contemplate and come back to the form, you may want to store your answers in another document as this form won’t save your answers if it is closed.

We need your email in order to reply.

Chief Concern:

We would like to know about your expectations:

Instructions: Please take a moment to review the tenets of the ASI Honor Code of Ethics for Spiritual Leaders. If you feel that any of these were not upheld and this contributed to your experience of harm, you may check the box next to those specific tenets.


There is a text box for you to tell us about your experiences at the bottom of the list.

Please choose one or more tenets that you felt were violated.

Explain what happened in your own words and include the following details in the dialogue box beneath these guiding questions:


  • What happened: Describe the situation. What did the spiritual leader do/not do or say that was in breach of these tenets? Please describe the impact it had on you by telling us your personal experience and how you felt at the time of the event. If relevant, please also share how you feel now.

  • When it happened: Share the date or time period when this occurred.

  • Where it happened: Please let us know if this took place in person, during an online session, in private, in public, or in other circumstances.

To the best of your knowledge, is there legal action in process regarding this leader's behavior?
Yes
No

What Happens When Your Report is Submitted:


Step 1: Acknowledgement

You’ll receive a response within five business days outlining the next steps. If the concern falls outside our scope (for example, if the leader is not an ASI member), we’ll let you know that we won’t be able to process the concern.  


Step 2: Sign Waiver

If your report is verified, the ASI Admin will email you a waiver to sign via electronic signature to continue the process. (The waiver is at the bottom of this form for your review.)


Step 3: Confidential Conversation with the ERT

Your report is read and carefully considered by our Evaluation and Restoration Team (the ERT), who are guided not by assumptions of right or wrong, but by these questions:

  • What would best support the person raising this concern?

  • What would best serve the spiritual leader’s growth and accountability?

  • Was the Code of Ethics breached? If so, how and which tenets were breached?


The ERT will contact you to offer a confidential meeting. This is a listening space and their role is to evaluate if this report would be a candidate for formal, professional mediation. The ERT are not mediators. Their role is to support clarity and options, not to steer an outcome. 


In this meeting, you can share your experience, ask questions, explore how to proceed (with mediation or not) and take time to reflect and be heard. You can decide whether you want the spiritual leader to be contacted, whether you wish to remain anonymous or whether you’re open to mediated dialogue. We cannot guarantee that your identity won’t be inferred, especially in small communities. Leaders often correctly guess who reported them to us. But ASI will never disclose your name or details without your explicit consent.


Step 4: Contacting the Spiritual Leader

If you consent, the ERT will meet with the spiritual leader. If you do not want them contacted, we will respect that choice. (You will have the opportunity to talk through these options with the ERT.) If you request mediation, we will meet with the leader before mediation and anonymity will not be possible.

If the spiritual leader in your report refuses to attend mediation, we (ERT) will offer to speak with the leader a second time. If they still refuse mediation, then appropriate action will be taken, which may include requesting the member to undertake specific training to bring awareness to behavior that can cause harm, and while we have not yet taken this step, we may consider suspending or revoking membership.


Step 5: Mediation

If both you and the ASI member agree, a trusted professional mediator will be hired by ASI.


ASI does not have in-house mediators. We recommend highly trained professionals, and the cost ranges from $700 to $1,500 to address one case.


ASI is funded solely by donations. After the mediation is complete, we will invite both parties to contribute to future mediation processes by offering a contribution that feels appropriate and does not create financial hardship. This is a way to pay-it-forward and to support the next mediation for ASI members.


Formal mediation usually involves a preparatory meeting with the mediator (one for each party) and one or two sessions with you and the person in your report.


While reconciliation is always hoped for, it is not an expected or necessary outcome. Even without restoration of the relationship, the process of mediation can support clarity, boundary-setting, learning, and personal growth for both parties.


Step 6: Feedback and Closure

Whether or not mediation takes place, the ASI process is considered complete once all the steps outlined here have been followed. In some cases, reconciliation may not be possible.


At the end of the process, you’ll receive a request for feedback. This is your chance to share what felt supportive, what didn’t work for you, and whether the process offered any learning or insight. Your reflections matter. They help us grow and strengthen the process for others.


Once a case is closed by the ASI, please be respectful of all involved and do not continue contacting the ERT, mediator or administrator around this particular concern. We want to be supportive and the feedback form is in place for you to share your experience.


Please note: the timeline from the initial filing of a report to closure can take up to 8 weeks or more, depending on the availability of all parties.


Thank you for helping to change the paradigm of spiritual leadership.

I understand the ASI Evaluation and Restoration process as explained above. I understand that if the report of an ethics breach goes to mediation, after the process, I will be asked for a financial contribution to support future mediation processes for other ASI members who need it. I understand that a professional mediator will be hired because ASI does not have a professional mediator on staff. By requesting ASI to review and evaluate my report, I agree to release and hold harmless ASI from any and all claims, demands, liabilities, actions, and causes of action of any kind or nature whatsoever, arising out of or in any way connected with ASI’s Evaluation and Restoration process, including but not limited to any actions or omissions of ASI. I acknowledge that before I meet with the ASI Evaluation and Restoration team, I will e-sign a waiver, which will be sent to me in a separate email. I understand that when ASI closes the case, I will have an opportunity to send feedback on my experience and I agree not to continue contacting the ERT, mediator or administrator surrounding this particular case. (Updated Oct 15, 2025).

You may review the waiver here. You will be sent the waiver to e-sign.

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